Learning to Be a Loving Community

Learning to be a Loving Community Have We Lost That Loving Feeling? GOD WINS Series, Sermon 2. Scripture: Revelation 2:1-7 Have you ever attended a wedding where the bride and groom were madly in love with one another? They can't wait to tie the knot and fly off to their honeymoon in Bermuda or some other exotic location. On their return they're doing like all couples do just after their honeymoon-kissin' and huggin' at the least excuse, hanging all over each other like two earthworms in heat, and being EXTREMELY courteous and helpful and loving and gentle. And this goes on for months and sometimes even a year or two and then.... I know what most of you are thinking; [GET AUDIENCE RESPONSE:] (Answer: THE HONEYMOON!) Boy, you're a cynical bunch! Aren't you? One of the most well-known pop songs of the twentieth century expresses the heartbreak and heartache that lovers feel when "the honeymoon ends": You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips. And there's no tenderness like before in your fingertips. You're trying hard not to show it, But baby I know it... You've lost that lovin' feeling, Whoa, that lovin' feeling, You've lost that lovin' feeling, Now it's gone...gone...gone...wooooooh. How many of you had the tune going on in your head while I was saying the lyrics? You know folks, we shouldn't lose that loving feeling towards our spouses. The honeymoon should never end! Yeah, I know that something more substantive completes the feeling of first love, but really, marriage should have a love that is always fresh and always filled with passion. Now this same principle applies to the church and to our own spiritual life. When a church is first beginning there is a unique bond between those early pioneers and charter members of that church. They have each made a commitment to give and to serve and to love one another and it is often that passion that can make a new church grow exponentially in the first few years. So it is when a person comes to Christ, the spiritual journey is much like a honeymoon. There should be, and often is passion, zeal and enthusiasm for Christ. ¿However, as time rolls along, that "first love" can diminish, can't it? This is what happened in the church at Ephesus. In Revelation 2:4 Jesus says... Revelation 2:4 says, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." Contemporary English Version - But I do have something against you! And it is this: You don't have as much love as you used to. The Message - But you walked away from your first love Revised Standard - But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first The New Living Translation says it like this: But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first! As Tom Hanks said in the 1995 Apollo 13 movie, "Houston, we have a problem! " Yeah, there's a big problem when the church has lost that lovin feelin', isn't here? Here is what I want you to understand this morning on "I Love My Church Sunday" - God calls upon the church of Jesus Christ to be a Loving Community! Jesus said, ... thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. In John 13:35 he said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." The command to "love one another" is repeated 16 times in the New Testament (most by John who wrote Revelation) Heard about a man visited his uncles Church. There was a play about the life of Jesus being performed. During the play the man who played the part of Jesus had quoted several of the verses in the Bible about the need to love one another as his followers. The play had reached the final scene. It was the ascension of Jesus back to heaven. The actor was being pulled upward off of the stage by some men who were working off stage when suddenly the pulleys snapped dropping the actor to the stage. Everyone was shocked! But with great presence of mind the actor stood up, looked at the audience and said, "one more thing, love one another! We are to guard against losing that first love whether it be our love for Christ, our love for one another or our love for the lost community and world around us. We are to continually model both our love for Jesus and our love for one another and our love for the lost! Let that sink in - Last Sunday we began a series of messages called GOD WINS - A Study of Revelation. We covered the Vision, the Voice and the Victor found in chapter one. Over the next few weeks we will be learning from the messages that Jesus gave to the 7 churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Jesus had named them in chapter one. Please stand with me in honor of God's Word as we read out text: Revelation 2:1-7 as we meet the first of the 7 churches that Jesus addresses. READ - PRAY Today I want to examine this church and learn from it like a doctor would. He would diagnose a medical problem, assess the damage and then prescribe a remedy. I. FIRST, NOTICE THE LORD'S DIAGNOSIS OF THE PROBLEM. - It was three-fold: 1. First, they had ACTIVITY WITHOUT INTIMACY. Notice in verse 2, "I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience," and verse 3 repeats that they had labored for the Lord. That's a good thing, right? We're called to LABOR for the Lord and to SERVE Him and serve others. They deserve a pat on the back. In several of these messages to the seven churches, Jesus repeatedly commends them for their works and labor, so working of the Lord is GOOD. But look down at verse 4 where Jesus says: "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." They were a BUSY church...but Jesus said they had "left their first love." If we're not careful, we can be busy doing activities but lack intimacy with Jesus. Illus. - Have you ever read the book, The Five Love Languages? In this excellent book every couple should read, author Gary Chapman explains that we all have a certain way that we feel loved and naturally show that love to others; what he calls "love languages." Your marriage can get in trouble if you love your spouse the way YOU best feel loved, when in fact your spouse may appreciate what you're doing, but not truly feel loved because he or she has a different love language. When you do that, it's like you're both speaking to each other in different language, and not understanding what the other really means. For example, a couple came to a marriage counselor for help. The husband's love language was ACTS OF SERVICE, but hers was QUALITY TIME. He was so busy going about DOING things for her because he thought that was how to show her his love the best, but he never had time to spend quality time with her. Frustrated, she complained that she didn't sense he loved her because he rarely spent any time with her, causing him to become defensive and list all the things he dutifully and lovingly did for her. Now let me transition to the spiritual and ask you a question: Which do you think is most important to God: Service for Him or time with Him?-Actually, BOTH. God DOES want us to serve Him, but He wants us to have quality time with Him as well, and works of service are no substitute for time with God. The Ephesians were like Martha who worked and labored serving Jesus. She became angry that her sister Mary sat at the feet of Jesus showing her love to and worshiping Him, so Martha asked Jesus to rebuke her. But His response was, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Folks, SERVE Jesus;YES! WORK for Him; YES! LABOR in His vineyard; YES....but be sure to find time to love on Him daily in the Word and prayer and corporately through worship at church with other believers. Activity without Intimacy. 2. The second diagnosis is that they had FAITHFULNESS WITHOUT FERVENCY. In both verses 2 and 3 Jesus commends them for their endurance and patience, yet He criticized their lack of passion in verses 4-5. If you're faithful to church, but just sit disengaged and don't participate in the worship or listen intently to the message, or respond when God speaks to your heart, God will commend you for your faithfulness, but He'll rebuke you for your lack of passion just as He did with the Ephesian believers. The whole tenor of Scripture is that we should serve and worship God passionately, wholeheartedly, with ALL our hearts! And if we make our Quiet Time something we do out of duty and obligation, then I commend you for at least having one-that's more than can be said about many-but how much better to do it with intentionality and purpose and passion! Faithfulness without Fervency is a symptom 3. And then lastly, notice that they had CONVICTIONS WITHOUT LOVE. Jesus commended this church for standing firm against false teachers and fake apostles, and for hating the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which we won't elaborate on today because it's not pertinent to our study this morning. The point is they took a strong doctrinal stance but lacked love. This can be true of many fundamentalist believers who stand strong against doctrinal impurity but often lack love in in dealing with debatable matters of convictions and preferences. It's so easy for such a person's faith to devolve into legalism-a list of do's and don't's that define behavior without necessarily having-even needing-an abiding relationship with Christ and a passionate love for and loyalty to fellow believers. No wonder Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:6, "...the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." In other words, doctrine without spirituality is deadness. So, first the Lord gives His DIAGNOSIS. II. SECOND, NOTICE THE DAMAGE THE LORD SEES. When a doctor makes diagnoses, he has to assess the damage before prescribing a remedy. He may send you for a test or two to try to determine the extent of the problem. The church at Ephesus was damaged by a coldness and a loss of passion. What can cause us to become cold and passionless in our service of God? 1. It could first of all be the result of NEGLECT. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Illus. - This is similar to what occurs when a campfire is neglected. - You better keep stoking it, or it will go out. To stay "fired up" for God, you need to stoke the fires of love for the Lord. We'll talk more about how Jesus says to do that in a moment. 2. We can also lose our passion due to DISTRACTIONS. We can become so wrapped up in the affairs of this life-making a living, taking trips to the doctors office, taking the kids hither and yon, shopping, watching TV, checking Facebook-that we don't find time for the most important things in our relationship with the Lord. I'm not saying these are evil things. I know some are necessary things, but let's be honest: some of them are elective. Social media can be a wonderful way to stay connected with friends and loved ones. - It's also one of the worst time-wasters in history. There's nothing wrong with any of these things in moderation and under control, but we have to constantly prioritize our lives and make sure we do the BEST things even if we cut back on some elective things, no matter how good or morally neutral they may be. 3. Third, we can lose our passion because of UNDEALT-WITH SIN. If you continue to disobey the Lord in an area you know is wrong and you just refuse to deal with your sin, you lose that close fellowship with the Lord we all so desperately long for. When that happens, it seems as if the Lord has moved away from us; He seems distant and remote. But in reality, it's WE who have moved away from the Lord, not the other way around. James advises us to "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." (James 4:8) If we continue to serve without intimacy, be faithful without fervency or remain doctrinally pure but fail to show love, Jesus warns the Ephesians how dangerous this is. In verse 5, He warns that He would remove their lampstand, unless they changed. This is tantamount to saying they would cease to exist. (Statistics show that thousands of churches in America close their doors every year). Or they might very well go on having church meetings, but Jesus would dim their light in their community and it would lose its power and effectiveness. Jesus has given His diagnosis and assessed the damage done. III. FINALLY, HE GIVES THE CHURCH in EPHESUS THE REMEDY. A simple way to understand the remedy is to focus on 3 "R's". 1. First is the word "REMEMBER." - Verse 5 begins, "Remember therefore from where you are fallen..." Remember what it was like during the honeymoon stage. Go back in your mind to a time when passion prevailed in your spiritual life. Relive it and analyze why you lost that loving feeling with God in the first place. I remember walking into the Drew Park Baptist Church in Tampa when I was an introverted 15 year old teenager and being greeted by other teens who welcomed me to church that day and I felt love and I felt loved. I wouldn't have called it that at the time, but that is what was. Sometimes love looks like greeting one another. I remember that same day being asked to go to an ice cream shop after church by one of the guys in the youth group, and I felt love and I felt loved. I wouldn't have called it that back then, but sometimes love looks like being noticed, recognized, affirmed. I remember being accepted into that group by leaders and I felt love, and I felt loved. Sometimes love is being accepted and appreciated, isn't it? I got plugged into that church and to that youth department for the next two and 1/2 years and it changed my life. AND I FELT LOVED! Sometimes love means belonging. I REMEMBER! I remember the love that I had for my Lord and Savior during those teen years as a young Christian. But I also remember times late on when my heart has become hard and my love has grown cold. I REMEMBER! Have you lost your first love for the Lord? Where or when did you start to lose your passion for Him? Did you start to neglect quality time with the Lord? Did it start by missing Wednesday prayer meeting or Sunday night worship? * Was it when you got too busy doing perfectly good stuff to find time for the best thing of all-fellowshipping with your heavenly Father? * Was it when He convicted you that a certain thing was wrong-or wrong for you-and you refused to give it up and you lost that close sense of His abiding presence with you? Go back and find out where you started to grow cold and passionless for the Lord. 2. The second "R" is also in verse 5: "REPENT." "Repent" is more than just saying "I'm sorry." The Greek word means to "change your mind." If you've lost that loving feeling about your spouse, you've started to think wrong thoughts about him or her and about the relationship. - You're focusing on the bad things and thinking about how good it was when you were single or your heart has turned to other things or people besides your spouse. To fall back in love, you've got to change your mind about these things so that you change your actions. In the spiritual realm, you've got to change your mind about your sin and disobedience and turn your heart away from earthly things an - RETURN back to God. 3. And the last word is "RETURN." Jesus says in verse 5: "...do the first works...". To "do the first works" means to repeat the things that made your heart first burn for Jesus-reading His Word; praying regularly; being faithful to His church where your fires will be fanned by preaching and teaching and by other believers who can encourage and exhort you; getting involved in serving the Lord and others during the week; witnessing for Him. Return to that place where you first knew Him, find where you got off track and get back to doing the things that fanned your passion for the Lord. The REMEDY is the same for churches also. REMEMBER, REPENT, REPEAT (RETURN) Right now, at this moment, I want you to honest with yourself and with Jesus. Have your left your first love? Are you here this morning out of duty not out of love? Can you honestly say that you are filled with fervent, sincere, extravagant love for Jesus? Or would you have to admit that your heart has grown cold, that your love for God and others is not what it once was? If He has spoken to your heart this morning, you need to deal with Him now. The time is now and the place is here, right here at this altar to REMEMBER where you went wrong, REPENT of it, and RETURN to doing the first works. If you're here and you've never trusted in Christ to save you from your sins, I invite you to come forward during the invitation so someone to take the Bible and introduce you to the most wonderful Person you will ever know-the One who died for your sins so you could have peace with God. The one who LOVED you so much that He gave His life for you! His name is Jesus and he knows you better than anyone else - Just like he knew the heart of the Ephesian church - he knows your heart and your need today.